"Dammit..."
Kenny cursed, clambering up with mud and dirt clinging to him. Fortunately, he had just managed to escape the lightning's area of effect.
He looked at Frieda the Titan, or more accurately, the Founding Titan. It saw him too. The massive figure lunged in an instant with a punch that tore through the wind, heading straight for Kenny.
Bang!!!
Accompanied by an explosive sound like cannon fire, a large crater appeared where Kenny had just been standing, sending earth and rocks flying everywhere. He had escaped by using the Founding Titan's calf as an anchor, shooting his grappling hook into it and pulling himself through the Titan's legs to the rear.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Just going to pick someone up and I run into a Titan!"
Cursing constantly under his breath, Kenny's expression was extremely grave. If Asahi had been hit by that punch, let alone him, he would have been instantly defeated.
Fortunately, because the force was too great, the Founding Titan's entire fist was pulverized into a fleshy pulp, with steam rising up, indicating its healing process. The massive figure stood still, creating an excellent opportunity for Kenny to flee.
Currently, he was weaponless, possessing only the armor and the ODM Gear. Furthermore, upon closer inspection, it was clear that the entity was fundamentally not Frieda. The way it exerted force was not something a farm girl like Frieda could do; it had to be someone with extensive combat experience. In a situation where he was overwhelmed in both power and equipment, only a madman would engage in combat with this thing.
Kenny was having an incredible run of bad luck. Although the Founder's will, specifically the 145th King, always haunted the subsequent generations of the Royal Family who inherited the Founding Titan, it mainly worked by eroding and subconsciously altering their perception, very rarely completely replacing the successor's consciousness. Let alone manipulating the successor into transforming into a Titan.
Over nearly a century, the Founder's will had eroded all aspects of its living personality. What remained was merely an automatically running program to keep everything on track. But Asahi's action of pushing the Founder's will back out of Frieda's consciousness seemed to have awakened something.
And now, it had fully awakened.
Things exceeded even Kenny's wildest imagination. The colossal body of the Titan was slowly transforming, becoming even larger. Twenty meters, thirty meters... stopping only when it reached a towering 130 meters!
"Oh my mother..."
Kenny swore that he had never seen anything this colossal in his life. The long arms stretched beyond his sight, swelling to an estimated five or six times the size of its previous 15-meter form. It slammed down toward Kenny, forcing him to dangerously evade once more.
BAM!!!
Even though it missed, the impact left a massive trench, dozens of meters long, in the ground. The Founding Titan's form was now fully revealed.
A height of 130 meters, arms, legs, and every other part many times larger than before, with long hair hanging down. The chest cavity was completely hollowed out, exposing raw red flesh and ribs that grew to enclose the empty chest. Steam constantly billowed from every part of its body. It resembled the original form of the Founder, the form of Ymir.
If it wasn't nighttime, the appearance of the Founding Titan would absolutely lead to a severe crisis.
Kenny Ackerman frantically fled, taking out a small black handheld device. Before embarking on the mission to escort Frieda, Asahi had given him this thing called a "transceiver," telling him that if anything urgent happened, he could use it to contact him.
He was no longer surprised that Asahi could pull out all sorts of strange devices with miraculous uses from nowhere; at the time, he had even secretly scoffed.
He didn't expect to be proven wrong so quickly.
"Asahi!!!"
"Hmm? Kenny? Is there a problem?"
"That royal brat turned into a Titan! Goddammit, I've never seen anything that tall!"
"Just one Titan..."
"It's roughly twice the height of the Wall! Get over here now! I don't know the specifics, so I can't explain clearly."
On the other side, at the Survey Corps barracks, Asahi's face grew serious. Even when confronting him, Kenny had never revealed this tone. The situation must have been so severe that he couldn't afford to "mess around" anymore and had to contact him.
"First, lure that Titan away from the populated area."
"Huh?!"
"Just do it!"
"Son of a bitch! You owe me one for this!"
The communication ended. Asahi immediately activated his tracking device to know Kenny's location. He, of course, wouldn't just give away the armor without preparation; he had contingency plans.
Kenny didn't seem to be lying. Although the urgency in his voice could be feigned as false evidence to deceive him, Asahi could clearly distinguish the sounds of heavy, rhythmic thumps—like an earthquake—heading toward Kenny. That could not be faked.
He didn't stay put either. Opening the door to go outside, he coincidentally saw Erwin approaching.
"Erwin?"
"I wanted to ask you about the plan. Was it successful?"
Through Asahi's account, Erwin already knew about the existence of the Reiss Royal Family and Frieda, including her inheriting the Founding Titan. He himself was the one who proposed the action to bring Frieda to their side. Asahi had agreed and secretly dispatched Kenny. It was just unexpected that such an incident would occur.
Upon hearing the news, Erwin's expression immediately darkened. He didn't blame Asahi, as this was an unforeseen emergency. The most important thing now was how to eliminate that Titan and return Frieda to normal.
That was also very difficult. According to Kenny's words, the height was at least over 100 meters. It couldn't be dealt with in a normal way, at least not with the limited time, personnel, and resources the Survey Corps could currently deploy.
Seeing the worry on Erwin's face, Asahi smiled and patted his shoulder, saying casually.
"No need to worry, I will handle it."
Before Erwin could say anything, he turned and left, stopping to retrieve an ODM Gear from the storage and attach it to himself. He had practiced using this equipment yesterday. It posed no difficulty for him.
Asahi also grabbed two boxes of replacement blades. These were for Kenny, as he remembered the man was unarmed.
Erwin watched him go. Although he knew it was best for Asahi to face the enemy alone—his strength allowed him to take care of himself, and the matter of "luring" Frieda had to be kept absolutely secret—he was still unwilling.
The Survey Corps was absolutely not a flower in a glass cage needing protection!
Every member of the Survey Corps feared death, but they still stepped outside the Walls. Because compared to dying ignorantly like cattle, they preferred to die on the path to freedom.
"Asahi, don't treat us like a bunch of cowards..."
Erwin looked at the retreating figure, mumbling with a bitter laugh. Immediately after, he summoned three elite members of the Survey Corps: Hange Zoe and Levi Ackerman, whom Asahi had met before, and the third person named Mike Zacharius, a close associate of Erwin. A warrior whose skills were not much inferior to Levi's, and someone who could be trusted.
Adding himself, Erwin Smith, there were four people going to assist Asahi!